In Union with Mary
“There cannot be a true devotion to Mary
unless it involves an apostolic solicitude.”
Frank Duff
In order to revive this pentecostal experience today, we must ask ourselves what
this close union between the Holy Spirit and Mary means for our concrete
Christian lives. We have to understand what this union between the Holy Spirit
and his instrument, the Most Holy Virgin, means to our way of life as
Christians. We have also to discover the deeper meaning of this mutual love of
which Christ is the fruit.
Mary, turned towards God, carries us along
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover
you
with its shadow …”
The meaning of the angel’s message was not restricted to the birth of Jesus
alone – its magnificence resounds through the centuries. Mary understood this so
well that she was able to sing: “For behold, henceforth all generations will
call me blessed.” She knew that the history of the world was unfolding in her.
More truly than St. Paul and the other saints, Mary could say “it is no longer I
who live, but Christ who lives in me’. Thus her entire meditation has as its
purpose to make us into “other Christs”, to fashion within us, trait by trait,
the image of Jesus. By her whole being, she is the “Mother of Jesus”, her
maternity operating also in us.
In every fibre of her body and her soul, she is the fiat mihi secundum verbum
tuum that her lips pronounce. She wishes only to be open to the Holy Spirit, to
acquiesce in his will and cooperate fully with his work. It is not she who takes
the initiative, it is God who lifts her up to Himself, it is God who gives her
the grace of this total gift of herself.